Well I decided to go ahead and make a build thread for the 1995 Honda Civic EX Coupe I picked up about a month ago. It'll be nice to look at the progress of the car for however long I'll keep it. Here's a pictures of the car when I first looked at it:












I literally was in Atlanta that day it was posted online for sale. One of my friend's commented on the link in Facebook and I decided to take a look at in person. After a visual inspection, checking what you'd normal check when buying a used car as well as the carfax, among other things. It seemed like a really clean 5 speed example; although, it had 256,000+ miles . I decided to take a couple of days to figure out if I really wanted the car. Having owned a 1995 Honda Civic Si Hatchback and 1994 Honda Sedan EX both which were in accidents due to people not paying attention to signs I contemplated getting into another. Here was the Cragislist ad:







Knowing that it's hard to come by a really clean STOCK example civic of any kind for a reasonable price I decided to bite the bullet. By the end of that week I bargained the selling price to what I believe was reasonable for me and previous owner. Then I had him take the car to my mechanic whom I trust. He worked on doing a full tune-up, general maintenance, and to look at any other issues I missed. He came to tell me the compression test came back positive, 205-210 PSI on all 4 cylinders which meant the motor was healthy. I was seriously ecstatic then that all changed a couple of days later.

I got an e-mail from my mechanic saying that there is an oil leak due to the oil pump seal and the previous owner thought it was an oil pan gasket leak so they replaced it and used HondaBond; furthermore, the waterpump was leaking as well. So I had to replace all that, timing belt, water pump, cam seal, crank seal, oil pump seal, oil pan gasket, and valve cover gasket which cost me on the higher end of $$$.



Then a week later he sends me another e-mail saying that the power steering rack and pump had a leak so they had to be replaced as well. More $$$. Then the issue of the driver's side CV axle not aligning up properly and the wheel cylinders for the rear brake drums had to be placed. Another $$$ down. Also, the b-pipe and muffler had holes in it. I believe this is due to the age of the car and mileage (rocks kicking up) so I had to replaced that as well. I picked up a Hi-Flow Cat and a Cat-back Exhaust to replace the exhaust system.

Now here I am with the cost of the car $$$$ in parts & labor essentially doubling the budget I had for the car itself and the parts/labor. Did the previous owner knew about those issues beforehand? Possibly. Did he want to get rid of the car due to the cost being more than what's the car worth? Maybe. But in the end it's a 20+ year old car with 256,xxx miles on it. It's gonna have it's issue which sadly I had to fix properly and I can't wait to pick it up from my mechanic on Thursday.

I've got plans to restore this car to make it a perfect example of daily reliability, OEM functionality, and awesome looks. Trying to keep it stock looking as possible. So far I've replaced the following:

All fluids: Engine Oil/Brake/MTF/Coolant/Power Steering
Filters: Oil/Air/Fuel
Radiator Cap
Spark plugs/Adjusted Valves
All Gaskets
Water Pump/Timing, Alternator, Compressor, Power Steering Belt
Driver CV Axle
Left & Rear Wheel Cylinder
Power Steering Rack & Pump
Hi-Flow Cat & Cat-back Exhaust

TL;DR
- Bought a stock clean example 95 civic ex coupe for a good price
- Found some major mechanically issues *leaks* had to properly fix & replace
- Maintenance costed as much as buying the car itself.
- Make a reliable daily driver with some rare OEM parts & a few proper and subtle aftermarket goodies.

 

It sucks you got stiffed, but hey you have a nice clean dd now.

 

For $2500 you could have bought a b16 swap without any leaks. And now you're stuck with a stock d series motor. Yikes.

 

A personal favortie! Definitely would have swapped a b series in there at that point. Looks like a clean start though. Look forward to the progress!

 

Well that was his asking price of course I never pay full asking price. Even if I were to buy a engine swap vehicle it wouldn't have been as clean as this car exterior/interior wise. And lets be honest most engine swaps at this price usually have major/minor issues (ie paint/dank interiors/ebay coilovers/exhaust/no proper maintenance). Secondly, the miles wouldn't match up with the odometer so I'd have to keep track of the miles and the general maintenance of it, also who knows the history of the engine/mileage/condition/etc. I'm OCD when it comes to my cars.


Finally I have a S2000 so I really don't need a B series swap car. I prefer the D series for the fact it gives really good gas mileage and it has the "stock" value. Pretty hard to come by clean STOCK examples of civics.


But you are right though, I should have just found a clean B-series swapped EG hatch. Or a really clean DB2 Integra GS-R.



Thanks! I thought about doing that but then I would have to upgrade the suspension/brakes/chassis/transmission to handle the extra power. That would mean more money again. And I'm about keeping the car balanced like the engineers designed the car to be plus the gas mileage. Maybe in the future if I let the mod bug bite me. But I wanna keep this car stock as possible.

 

I think what Brice ment was that you said you spent more on part then the car, so for $2500~ You could've spent that on a b16. And not parts for the d16. But I get the stock value. I would've went the same route if I had something better.

 

For those that love S2Ks. 2008 stock example.

 

You right it would have been more cost effective to go that route and I would have a B series ej1 coupe.

 

I'm a purist too. Nothing is any cleaner than an OEM looking b series in a civic.

After owning an s2000 for many years, I can honestly say they both are very similar in drive appeal.

My s2000 near the end:

 

Car looks great, sucks you had to put so much money in it. It happens with these older cars. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress, I've had three coupes and love em. It looks like you have a great base to start with.

 

Seriously, I cringed. Sorry to hear your situation OP. The car itself is very clean tho, good luck.

 

Live and learn I guess. I'm sure we've all done something we regret or wish we planned out better. **** happens.

Car looks clean tho and ready for many many more miles. Good luck 👍

 

You hardly got screwed. A stock 1992-1995 Civic for $2500 with some leaks is nothing. That is perfectly normal. Buying 90s Civics is like walking through a minefield. There are a million ways you can get shafted. If your mechanic had called you and told you that the car had been demolished at one point and the rear third of the car had been chopped off and replaced with pieces from a different car that were only held on with seam sealer, then you pulled off the interior door panels to find both doors were not originally black but had been taken from donor vehicles THEN I might say the seller got you.

If you're spending a significant amount of money for a timing belt job and some stuff resealed then you need to learn to do the work yourself. The cost of those parts isn't much and I don't believe there are any under hood jobs on a 90s Civic that can't be done by anyone with some basic tools and access to the internet. You already have another newer car, so use the Civic to learn. You'll appreciate the car so much more when you put your own time and energy into it. It will truly be yours and not just a rolling representation of your mechanic's handiwork.

That looks like a nice car. If I'd seen something like that on craigslist at that price I would be very tempted to go have a look.

 

Right. Should have picked up a b20 high compression and be done with it. Love your BB s2k though.

Yeah the base to start with is amazing. I was surprised how unmolested and clean the car was. Original keys, manuals, maintenance records dating back to the 96. Thats why bite the bullet. I guess the people who did the maintenance work did a shitty job and took advantage of the previous owners. But yeah already buying some rare oem parts and still searching.

Thanks man!

Yupz. Oh well it is what it is. Lesson learned. At least I have a connection with this generation of Civic. And now ive corrected all the issues im hoping to get another quarter of a million miles and beyond.

Yeah, sadly I don't have time nor the tools to do the mechanic work. I'm active duty military so I dont have the luxury just yet.

I just don't like being lied to. "A car you can just pick up and drive. No maintenance required". But i figured it would have minor issues not any major ones. But thats my fault because i should have done a proper PPI with my mechanic. I assume the mechanics the previous owners went to just did crappy jobs or no jobs at all and took advantage of the previous owners.

The parts for the car cost me around $1700. The labor wasnt actually bad because my mechanic gives me hook ups but still having to pay that much for parts imo sucks.

But now that its over with. I'm a happy person because its an all original car with records. Next part would to be to paint it because the 20 year ild paint is showing its age.

 

So while picking my car up in Atlanta two hours north where I live. I made my way to a local junkyard and did I find? A black 95 ex coupe fully loaded and these are what I picked from it:









Not bad for $140

 

What branch of mil? I'm AF.

 

Aim high. Fly. Fight. And Win.

 

So after picking it up last Thursday, I've already put over 600+ miles on it in less than 5 days. One thing notice is the the speaker in the front sounded blown; furthermore, it was distorted at lower volumes so I decided to change it. I didn't want to go aftermarket because I wanted keep the stock radio. So I did the next best thing. I had my 2008 S2000 6 1/2 speakers lying around and put them in the stock location. And it sounded way better, it hit harder and deeper. Maybe because it takes 20W vs the AR 30W.




OEM S2k (20W) vs OEM Acoustic Research (30W)




S2000 vs Acoustic Research Fronts

Also, decided to get it detailed since it's a 21+ year old car and I put some DEPO Amber corners on to it as well:






I know I should use a Touchless car wash but it's a old car and I'll get it repainted anyways.




The Result

Finally, I got a proper alignment at Firestone with their Lifetime alignment. I notice that the toe is .21 is not within specs. Anyone know how to remedy this?



So far so good. I'm enjoying this car; although, it has some minor issues (ie. paint, slow driver's side window going up, etc.). Hoping to enjoy this car for a long time.

 

Must be a nonner

Seriously though, I hate that word. It's ******* stupid.

 

Looking good, awesome score on the audio console!

 

Looks to me like they maxed out the right rear toe adjustment and that is as close at they could get it. You most likely have a bent arm or really torn bushing throwing things off.

 

Looks good man

 

I had some free time this weekend to DIY some things on to the civic:

Installed some OSRAM NightBreakers Unlimited Bulbs. I wish I took pictures of before and after but IMO it has more distance, better beam range and better lighting then OEM.

I replaced the hatchback mats that the previous owner had in em with the OEM coupe mats.

Also, installed am OEM steering wheel with cover since the old one had major cracks in it. OEM Aluminium shift **** was added and the EDM OEM console as well w/ a rubber mat.

Finally I got my hands on some VTi Ek4 OEM Fan Blades for a good deal. Now I need to figure out what's a good 15in tire to go with these wheels. Any recommendations for 195/50/15?

Left is Osram NB, Right is OEM:

 

Cleaned up my Tanabe Medallion Touring Exhaust with a Flowmaster Hi-Flow CAT








Here is how the car looks next to my 2008 S2K. I still can't believe the Civic was considered "subcompact" back in the day. It's amazing how much room these small little cars have especially compared to cars now a days.

 

Looking good OP. Not sure about that steering wheel cover tho.